CACAO — COFFEE. 249 



Undoubtedly Dr. Lindley is fully aware that if proper atten- 

 tion to culture and preparation can improve the quality of cacao, 

 there exist also local conditions — that is to say, u the temperature, 

 the soil, the exposure, and other circumstances " — which have 

 their share in modifying the quality. There are, moreover, 

 several varieties of the Theobroma, and the plain fact is that, 

 although Trinidad cacao may be classed next to that of Caracas, 

 it cannot bear comparison with cacao from Orituco, Guigue, 

 Cupira, &c, in the province of Caracas, or from Pedraza, in the 

 province of Varinas, and Rio Chico, in the province of Mara- 

 caybo, much less with that of Soconusco, which, during the 

 Spanish dominion, was exclusively reserved for the use of the 

 royal family. 



Coffee [Coffea Arahica). — As Trinidad has never exported 

 much coffee, that which is grown in the island has not yet 

 acquired any repute. Nevertheless, very good coffee might 

 be produced here, and in abundance ; the coffee plant thrives on 

 our hills, at Saint Ann, Diego Martin, Laventille, and along 

 the southern coast, at Erin, and Moruga. If the culture of 

 coffee ever extend in Trinidad, the valleys of Caura and the 

 heights of Arima, Guanape, Aripo, and Oropuche will afford 

 a magnificent field for its cultivation. The coffee, like the 

 cacao tree, requires shade and protection, and the bois mortel or 

 the pois-doux {Inga) is planted along with the seedlings, as also 

 plantain shoots. The quantity of coffee exported in 1879 was 

 not more than 14,605 lbs., and the quantity imported equal 

 to 178,163 lbs., of which 146,243 lbs. were from Venezuela. 

 Trinidad, therefore, would not produce enough coffee for its own 

 consumption. Few of us, I expect, were prepared for this conclu- 

 sion. The price varies from fifteen to twenty cents a pound. The 

 cultivation of coffee may be carried on without much outlay, but 

 a large number of hands becomes necessary in crop time for the 

 gathering in of the berries, as they come to maturity all together 

 and germinate very quickly when they are left on the ground. 

 Women and children may be employed in picking and 'gathering 

 the crops. The berries are made to pass through the coffee-mill 

 to separate the seeds from the soft outer husk; they are 

 afterwards washed and dried, and made again to go through 

 the mill to be winnowed from the inner husk or parchment, 

 before being packed for exportation. These are operations too 



